“—What could possibly lie beneath the sky?”
The low, ominous rumbling of the airship’s engine came from underfoot.
They had to keep their hands firmly on the handrail, as the wind was powerful enough to easily carry a child along as it blew. And at an altitude that high, it was also cold enough to numb their sense of smell, thus they could not smell neither the oil nor the steel.
That was what the petite girl had said, while brushing her green hair and not looking the least bit afraid, standing atop the deck.
“Beneath the sky... you mean besides Cloudrealm?”
The youth replied, unable to tear his eyes away from her green hair. Her hair was long, and of a wondrous colour. It even looked to be glowing faintly in the light.
The world as could be seen looking down from the top of the deck was dyed a dazzling white. Neither land nor anything man-made could be found within sight, and all there was, was a cloud-like gaseous body which people called ‘Mist’. The sheer vastness of it would make an onlooker who stared at it lose their sense of distance.
The sky was cleanly divided into two.
The first half was the heavenly Azurealm, spreading out in endless ultramarine. Beneath it, was the other; the deep and silvery Cloudrealm.
“Nope, I’m talking about even further beneath the Cloudrealm—the farthest end of the skies.”
“Beats me. I’ve never thought about it. Is there even a bottom?”
Will tilted his head to the side, feeling incredulous at her absurd words.
On that day, Will was able to ride on the jumbo airship because of his father’s work. As a man of the military, his father often left home for prolonged periods of time, on convoys or expeditions. Feeling sorry for Will, who had lost his mother at such a young age, he had arranged for Will to be able to ride on the same ship for just that one time.
Will only learnt of that after he grew older. He was simply innocently blissful that he could ride on the airship then.
It was when Will went exploring on the ship that he met the girl.
She was probably five or six years old then. She looked younger than Will, who was seven, but she was crying initially when he first saw her.
No matter how much he tried talking to her, she only cried, and did not respond to him. He suspected that she was a foreigner, as his words did not seem to get through to her.
Deeply perplexed, Will then tried saying something like this,
I really like the colour of your hair. It’s so pretty.
The colour of the girl’s hair was beautiful. It was emerald-green, and at a closer look, it was giving off a faint light.
As though doubting her ears, the girl looked up. Her eyes were sapphire-blue, her cheeks dyed red, as bewitching as pearls. It was almost as if she were made of precious jewels.
“That’s the first time someone has told me that.”
Finally, he had managed to get a response out of her.
After listening to her story, it seemed that she had been prohibited from going outside up until now (it was only a fair bit later that he realised she looked like the daughter of someone influential and powerful) but, it was impossible for a child that age to stay still in an airship.
She had become lost after leaving her room.
Will then invited the girl to go airship exploring.
He had met the mysterious girl, on an airship filled with the wealthy. She may have been a lost child, but the thought of doing something as uninteresting as getting an adult’s assistance did not strike him.
They were rather proficient at moving about behind the adult’s backs. It stimulated their curiosity, and they took pleasure in the feeling of doing something they shouldn’t. Finally, they arrived at the deck of the airship.
“If there’s something at the bottom of the sky, I’d want to see it.”
“Not happening. Nobody has ever passed through the Cloudrealm and come back to tell the tale.”
Will smiled wryly at the girl. It was general knowledge even a seven-year-old knew.
Looking up from the Cloudrealm, many dots floating in the sky could be seen, before the setting sun. Even with the backlight, it could be seen that those numerous dots were made of rock. They were covered in green, like moss, and on their top portions, were many thin, towering towers, and it looked like a bamboo forest.
Those were islands.
At this distance, all they seemed like were small pebbles, but on each and every one of those, tens of thousands of humans lived, going up into the millions for the more populated, filled with a mixture of the industrial buildings that supported the livelihood of the people and their dwellings.
People lived on the islands drifting about in the sky, and travelled from archipelago to archipelago via jumbo airships; the places people started to inhabit spread out endlessly.
It could be said that the humans were flourishing at an unprecedented level.
Yet, the rulers of those skies were not the humans.
That title belonged to the denizens of the beautiful yet violently swirling Cloudrealm; they were taller, faster than the humans and they lived far from human civilisation.
The only place the humans were permitted to tread, was the one half of the sky divided in twain—the Azurealm, the zenith of the sky.
To even approach the boundary of the skies—Cloudrealm, would mean to risk becoming the prey of its rulers—the Mistfiends.
The airship they were on could fly at an altitude at which the Mistfiends did not approach, and so they were permitted safe passage. Falling to an altitude lower than that of the islands would likely spell instant doom at the hands of the lords of Cloudrealm.
The girl leaked out a bored sigh, and then she abruptly cried out.
“Look, it’s a Winged Vessel!”
“Where?”
Straining their eyes, they looked slightly downwards from the airship. Two dots flying at an altitude that almost touched Cloudrealm could be seen.
The Winged Vessels—they soared through the skies, fuelled by the power of Mistlock, and were flying machines with only room for one passenger.
She has good eyes...
Will had good eyesight himself. But even so, he would not have noticed that tiny dot had she not called out to him. Feeling impressed by her keen vision, he focused his own on the two Wing Vessels within their sight.
“They’re not from the military... Who are they?”
“They’re the Birds of Passage. There isn’t anybody else who can traverse Cloudrealm.”
Will knew that name.
The Birds of Passage were those who entrusted their lives to the simple bladed guns known as “gunlances” and their Winged Vessels, even traversing the sky-territories of the Mistfiends. They were experts in making Voyages.
As for why they risked such danger, it was not due to an adventurous spirit nor the craving of attention.
In those skies, the methods for people to convey their words to each other were limited. For those higher beings dominated the skies; taking even one step out from the islands would mean being at their mercy.
They, who were of the skies, could deliver postal items, including Sealed Letters—they were the Birds of Passage of the Armed Postal Companies. The people could trust them to deliver their Sealed Letters, and so they were the only method of communication the people had.
Flying beneath them were a team of two Birds of Passage, or ‘buddies’, as they were called.
“Will they be alright flying that low?”
“They can’t possibly be. But that’s how they mail the Sealed Letters.”
As they spoke, a spray of Mist rose up like an axe, in the currently red-hued Cloudrealm. It resembled a blade, slicing through a white sea.
“They dove into Cloudrealm!”
“That’s to accelerate.”
The girl said excitedly, leaning her body forward. The act of diving into Cloudrealm propelled them forward and caused them to accelerate. The speed attained exceeded even that of the maximum speed of airships.
As the two of them looked down upon that scene, a certain something finally reared its ugly head.
“They’re coming back up.”
“Here they come!”
As though to surround the surfacing Winged Vessels, sprays of Mist arose.
“Mistfiends...”
In the distance, masses of black and armoured creatures came surfacing.
They were covered in armour, had multiple joints on its abdomen, massive frames the size of a flying machine and maws so huge it could swallow a man whole. Lastly, there was an evident lack of wings on their bullet-shaped forms.
Will felt a chill run down his back.
He had no idea what gave them the ability of flight, but it was clear to him that they were faster than the Winged Vessels.
The Mistfiends were countless, and they charged directly at the two Winged Vessels, as though they would not permit their existences.
“One is escaping.”
One of the Winged Vessels increased its altitude, succeeding in breaking free from Cloudrealm. Most likely, it was the one that carried the postal packages.
The Mistfiends paid no heed to the escaping Vessel, and went at the remaining one. Desperately, the crew of the Winged Vessel resisted and put up a mighty fight, but were still caught by a Mistfiend at last.
“No, they’re done for!”
Will yelled.
But just when he thought the Winged Vessel was about to be destroyed, explosions from gunfire rocked the area directly next to it. The Mistfiend took the hit directly and slowed down.
The source of the shots was the Winged Vessel that had appeared to have escaped earlier. It seemed like it had flew up in order to get a better shot with the gunlance. One played the role of the decoy, while the other the flanker.
Finally, they managed to break free away from the Mistfiends.
“Wow... they did it! They got away!”
The girl cried out in joy.
The Wing Vessel that broke free from the Mistfiend’s assault calmly flew away.
Their speeds exceeded that of the airships, and they vanished into the distance.
So there are people who can fly like that, huh?
Thinking that, there was no way he’d be able to stay calm any longer.
“All right! I’m gonna soar through the skies! With a Winged Vessel, even us humans can fight the Mistfiends!”
“That’s only because they’re Birds of Passage. If anyone could do it, then Cloudrealm would have been long conquered already.”
“Ugh... but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it too.”
The girl blinked her surprisingly deep blue eyes, taken back by Will’s resolute tone.
“Do you have a reason to go that far?”
“You wanted to see the end of the sky—the bottom of Cloudrealm, right? It’s decided. I’m going to take you there myself.”
Will thought he sounded really impressive with that line.
The girl turned her beautiful face about and looked coolly at him.
“I’ll pass. There’s no point if I don’t do it myself.”
She was awfully blunt.
The atmosphere turned weird as it was almost like he had been dumped, and he was trembling slightly. The girl’s pink lips turned into a teasing grin, after seeing that. Her expression gave off the feeling of someone much more mature than her appearance.
“You’re a strange one. You still want to fly, even though you’ve just seen that happen?”
“Seeing that made me want to fly all the more.”
The girl smiled upon hearing his answer.
“Then you just need to become a Bird of Passage. Gambling your life for one measly letter, to deliver it. I’ll think about it again if you do.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say that there’s no point if you didn’t do it yourself?”
“What about it? The Birds of Passage do not fly alone, after all.”
Will finally understood what she was implying, and he nodded enthusiastically.
“Got it. I promise you. We’ll fly together. Until the very end of the sky.”
“Really?”
“Men don’t go back on their words. My dad told me that.”
Will answered, puffing out his chest. The girl let slip a somewhat envious look, and then whispered.
“If you become a Bird of Passage, then I don’t mind singing for you.”
“Sing?”
With a fleeting smile, she closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest.
“—aikait eod neif ot gainkuer—aure ajoisam ainehrt—” (The white sea was ever so deep—lost were we in it, wandering—)
“—kairli ageis eod stoirsis—ejum eod stoirsis ot ainehrt noiges—” (Losing sight of the light o’ the stars—the dream of the distant daylight disappears, like an illusion)
Her clear voice rang out like a bell.
Riding along the powerful winds, it blended with the sounds of the airship’s machinery, reaching out into the Azurealm where the sun was starting to set. Further and further it went, even down to the red-hued Cloudrealm, resounding forth. A quiet tone it was, permeating into the elements.
Was it a foreign tongue? The words sounded unfamiliar to Will, but her voice was beautiful, her song refined, something he’d have never expected from something her age.
As he enjoyed the sound of her song, some men who looked like soldiers came running up to her, their faces flushed red. In hushed voices they told her something he could not hear, and she made a somewhat sad expression.
“We’ll continue where we left off, after you realise your dream—don’t forget our promise.”
“G-Got it.”
While waving at the girl being led away by the crew, Will realised that he had not asked her for her name.
Oh well. I’ll just ask her the next time we meet.
Several days later, Will returned home with his father, who had finished his task, without meeting with the girl even once. When he disembarked, he had a feeling that he saw her on the deck, but he did not have the chance to talk to her.
It was a long time after that that he heard the news.
The day after Will disembarked, the airship had crashed, taking the girl along with it.
